Van Gundy rips Magic CEO in radio interview

Coach fired by team in May

Former Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was critical of the team that fired him, claiming during a radio interview that Magic CEO Alex Martins had no knowledge of the game.

"It's a typical lack of understanding from someone who has no sports knowledge, who has never coached or played, who has never been in a lockeroom....it's a naivete," Van Gundy said on 740 AM on Monday, according to NBA.com. "....I'll stand on the relationships with players based on the results we got.

"I think Alex's comments are based on the fact that Dwight (Howard) and maybe others didn't like me...and thinking somehow that's important."

Van Gundy said the "culture and values" brought by former GM Otis Smith and former CEO Bob Vander Weide were lost when Vander Weide retired and Martins became CEO.

Van Gundy said the way the Magic handled Howard's trade demands affected the franchise.

"The Dwight thing was so big ... in an effort, I guess, to make Dwight happy and everything else, we compromised a lot of the culture and values we had before that," he said. "It's always a mistake when you compromise those things...everything goes South. It was no longer a team-first thing. It was inevitable things would not go as well."